This invention refers to a type of modular flooring, specifically one comprised of the association of equally sized floor tiles which have different characteristics of form and function on each of their two sides, with regularly checkered surfaces which allow them to be utilized individually or in combination, that is, the flooring may be constructed with the same side of all the tiles showing or with tiles that show one side combined with others showing the opposite side.
The layouts of floor coverings consisting of the association of a plurality of floor tiles are well known, and such floor coverings may be juxtaposed and connected to each other by practicable means of fitting them together, and present a smooth surface or one equipped with through openings or blind openings over all or part of the area, and are molded from elastomeric or plastic material or made up of an agglomerate textile fiber material.
See utility model no. 252,649 and industrial model numbers 104,183 and 113,831.
The utility model consists of a floor based on molded floor tiles that can have only one side showing, with the side facing down provided with blind holes which reduce the weight and consumption of material, while at the same time lending a springy characteristic to the floor tile, and provide some practicable means of connecting the tiles which consists of complementary male and female parts alternately arranged around all sides of the tile that are visible in the finished floor.
Industrial model no. 104,183 is constructed from molded plastic as in the aforementioned case, having a substantially smooth surface, only one usable side and a practicable means of connection consisting of alternating pegs and holes around the perimeter, which are also visible when the floor is constructed.
Industrial model no. 113,831 consists of a modular element for the formation of floors that may be permeable to liquids, such as those used in the branches of industry dealing with water and chemicals, at swimming pools and at bathing and showering establishments, etc. The elements, molded in plastic, have only one usable side and are provided with a practicable means of connection using a type of fastener that is invisible in the finished floor.
As indicated in the records referred to above, the tiles or elements that constitute the floor, which are not mats in either case, have only one usable side and are attached by male-female connections or by transverse fasteners. In the first case, this results in a connection that is not disguised due to confusion with the drawing of the obverse of the tiles and in the second case it results in a connection that is hidden.
On the other hand, flexible sheets of heavy, elastomeric material also exist, which are preferably rubber, that have their entire surface covered with cylindrical pins of a small diameter. These have a special application in the production of mats, and form a usable, and to some degree comfortable, walking surface. These are somewhat inconvenient due to the fact that between the pins a space is formed in which dust, dry mud and water can accumulate. This results in difficult cleaning, aside from the fact that the free ends of the pins are flat or slightly rounded and do little to eliminate the dust and mud from shoes.
With the goal in mind of avoiding such inconveniences and obtaining greater versatility in floor tiles intended for use in the production of modular and similar floors, without excluding other applications, it would be desirable to produce tiles with two usable sides which could be connected so as to show one or the other of the sides or any combination of them, while at the same time having a means of connection using transverse insertion or male-female parts and relief that is more non-abrasive.
In accordance with the preceding premises the modular floor that is the object of this invention was developed, which consists of the juxtaposition of a plurality of floor tiles having two sides with different functional characteristics so that one side has a regularly checkered surface, with protrusions of equal maximum height and on the same plane, comprising areas with open grids and blind areas, while on the other side are some areas with through openings and some with regularly spaced blind openings with protrusions of equal maximum height, all of which coincide with the counterpart of the first side, which are combined with flat sunken areas with respect to the maximum height of this side, which constitute grooves for the insertion of interlocking members and present a surface formed by the closed backs of the blind areas of the first face.
One characteristic of the invention is that the tiles are provided with a practicable means of connection around the perimeter by mutual transverse insertion of the same in either of the two directions perpendicular to the planes of the tile faces to be joined and/or by mutual coplanar insertion of the same in a horizontal direction in the medial plane of the tiles to be joined.
One preferred implementation of the invention is based on the fact that each tile, preferably quadrangular in shape, is comprised of a medial plane body that, through one of its faces, presents in combination some areas with through openings and extends perpendicularly in some wall areas and in some areas covered with pins, so that the wall areas and the pin areas present a substantial maximum coplanar height, while on the other face some areas with through openings are presented which coincide with the areas with available openings on the other side, some flat areas, coinciding with the backs of some wall areas and pin areas of the other side and some wall areas and some pin areas, both coinciding with part of the wall areas and pin-covered areas of the other side, configuring said flat areas, with respect to the wall areas and pin areas of the same side, some depressions that constitute grooves for the insertion of free surface interlocking members.
Characteristic of the preceding implementation is the fact that the pin-covered areas of each of the sides of the tiles consist of serpentine pathways of constant width, from which emerges, perpendicularly, a line of isolated pins that is flush with the plane of maximum height. These winding paths are parallel and equidistant from each other, connected by crosspieces with the wall areas and flanked by areas with through openings. Furthermore, the wall areas of each of the faces consist of partitions capped with spaced protuberances which are flush with the plane of maximum height leaving passages between them.
Another characteristic of this preferred implementation of the invention is based on the fact that the wall areas are situated between the pin-covered areas, each forming lines parallel to the two opposing sides of the tile.
Similarly, another characteristic of the invention is that the pins consist of substantially slender frusto-conical elastic bodies, whose larger base, emerging from the serpentine pathway, has a diameter equal to the width of said pathway, while its smaller tip extends superiorly in a crown with a straight cruciform section that is flush with the plane of maximum height, and that the wall areas consist of a concave undulating curivilinear wall formed by the diametrical juxtaposition of two series of semicircular arches, linked to each other by their convex parts in a displaced manner in one quadrant, which occlude some of the through openings.
Another characteristic of the invention is based on the fact that the grooves in one of the faces of the tiles, which are of a substantially rectangular configuration, are delimited by singular rectilinear walls that, while defining walls that extend to the other face, are combined with the serpentine pathways of the pin-covered areas and with the walls of the wall areas, cross over some of the through openings and have a height equal to that of the walls of the wall area, without including the crown protuberances.
Finally, another characteristic of the invention is based on the fact that the tiles, in two of the contiguous sides, have regularly distributed rectangular recesses around the perimeter with semicircular bases, while in the other two contiguous sides there are projections capped with a semi-cylindrical nipple, with flanges that correspond to notches in the aforementioned recesses, which are complementary to them and permit a practicable mutual connection.